Lubricator.



Patented Aug. 5, |902. W. F. RICHARDS.

LUBRICATOB.

(Application led Jan. 19, 1900.)

(No Model.)

2 Sheets-$heet l.

No. 706,201. Patented Aug. 5, |902.

W; F. RICHARDS.

LUBRICATOR.

(Application filed Jan. 19, 1900.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

dUnire STATES ATENT OFFCE,

VILLARD F. RICHARDS, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO CHARLES M. GOULD,OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

LUBRICATOR.

i SPECIFICATION forming' part of Letters Patent No. 706,201, datedAugust 5, 1902.

Application tied .Tammy 19,1900. Aserial No. 2.019. lNomodelJ T allwhom, it' nrty concern:

Be it known that I, WILLARD F. RICHARDS, a citizen ofthe United States,residing at Buffalo, in the county of Erieand State of New York,ha\7einvented new and useful Im provements in Lubricators, of which thefollowing is a speeiiication.

This invention relates to shaft-bearings which are lubricated by meansof a wick imro mersed in au oil-reservoir arranged underneath thebearing. Y

The object of myinvention is to improve the construction of the bearingand its lubricating device with a view of insuringa constant and uniformlubrication of the same, avoiding waste of oil,and facilitating theremoval of the wick for cleaning and renewing the same. In theaccompanying drawings, consisting of two sheets, Figure l :is alongitudinal seczo tional elevation of the bearing of a dynamo orelectric machine embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse Verticalsection of the bearing, taken centrally through the same. Fig. 3 is alongitudinal section in line 3 3, Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a fragmentary topplan View of the bearing-sleeve. Fig; 5 is a fragmentary horizontalsection thereof. l

Like letters of reference refer to like parts in the several figures.` y

A is a shaft-such, for instance, as the armature-shaft of a dynamo-and Bis my improved bearin g, in which the adjacent portion of the shaft isjournaled. This bearing cousists of a tube or sleeve which is seated inopenings formed in the front and rear walls of an oil well or reservoirC. Vhen the bearing is applied to a dynamo, this reservoir is secured toone of the heads of the dynamo-casing by bolts (not shown) which passthrough 4o said head and through a iange D, formed on the reservoir. Thebearing -sleeve is held against turning by a set-screw e or any othersuitable fastening. The oil-reservoir isprovided at its sides withplugged filling-openingsf and in its bottom with a plugged drainopeningf. G G are wicks or capillary feeders which supply the oil to the shaftand bearing-sleeve B. Thesewicks are preferably fiat, and each of thesame consists of two depend- 56 ing branches which dip into the oil inthe 'reservoir C and rest with their upper portions against oppositesides of the armature-shaft. The bearing-sleeve B is provided onopposite sides of the shaft with openings 71., through which thebranches of the wick pass and which intersect the bore of the sleeve, soas to allow the saturated wick to lie against the shaft, as shown'inFig. 2. The openings of the bearing-sleeve extend from top to bottomthereof, so that the wick branches can 6o be passed downwardly throughthe openings into the reservoir. The exposed upper portion of the wickwhich connects its branches passes over the solid portion of thebearingsleeve between its wick-openings, so that the wick is suspendedfrom theV sleeve. The wick preferably consists of a double thickness, asshown, to increase its absorbing-surface, and the portion of the wick onthe upper surface ofthe bearing B may be thick- 7o ened by an extralayer or piece of wicking g, if desired.

t represents a pair of rings or loops attached to the upper portions. ofthe wick branches for withdrawing the same from the openings of thebearing-sleeve when it becomes necessary to clean or renew the wick. Thereser- Voir O is provided in its top with an opening for introducing andrenewing the wick,which opening is closed by a removable cap or cover 8oj, as shown in Figs. l and 2.

Each of the openings h of the bearing-sleeve is provided in its lowerinner wall with alongitudinal groove or recess k, which opens into thebore of the sleeve and forms a ledge or shelf 7c', which is inclinedinwardly, as shown in Fig. 2. Thisshelf is adapted to receive anysurplus oil fiowing down the wick from the top of the shaft. lisalongitudinal groove or channel formed in the bottom of the bear- 9oing-sleeve and extending nearly from end to end thereof, and Zrepresents transverse channels which lead from the foot of the inclinedshelves 7c to said longitudinal groove and through which such surplusoil flows to the lower portion of the bearing-sleeve, thereby supplyingthe surplus oil to the bottom ofthe shaft. By this construction the oilis fed directly to the shaft by the wicks, and the wicks intercept andhold in suspension any 10o grit in the oil, preventing it from reachingthe shaft and the bearing-sleeve. The porpis closed bya removable capM'.

tions of the wicks lying against the shaft also act as wipers, whichkeep the shaft and bearing-sleeve free from grit.

In order to insure a constant supply of oil t0 the shaft-bearing underall conditions, I prefer to combine with the wicks G an auxiliary feeddevice which is constructed as follows: M is a rectangular casing whichsurmounts the cap j and which is preferably formed integral therewith.This casing is bottomless and opens into'thetop of the oilreservoir C,and the upper end of the casing N is an auxiliary oil-reservoir arrangedwithin 'the casing M and adapted to receive a supply of oil from 'thereservoir C. This auxiliary reservoir is provided in its bottom with adischarge-opening lm, arranged directly over the bearing-sleeve B, sothat the oil flows upon the portion of the wicks G extending over saidsleeve,v ois an endless feed chain or cord which hangs loosely from anupright .pulley o', journaled in the auxiliary reservoir N, and dipsinto the oil in the main reservoir C, so that the rotation of saidpulley causes the endless feed-chain to roll around the same and elevatea portion ot' the oil in the main reservoir in to the auxiliaryreservoir. The pulley o is secured to a hollow shaft 02, which turnsupon a transverse pin p, secured in openings formed in the side walls ofthe auxiliary oil-reservoir. q is a main actuatingshaft which isjournaled lengthwise in the lower portion of the auxiliary oil-chamberand which is driven from the lubricated shaftA by a friction-wheel q',secured to the actuating-shaft and running in contact with thelubricated shaft- The bearing-sleeve B is provided in its top withairansverse slot q2, through which the lower portion of thefriction-wheel q extends. Motion is transmitted from the actuating-shaftvq lo the pulley-shaft o2 by a Wol-m4', formed in or secured to the mainshaft and meshing -with a worm-wheel r', secured to the pulleyshaft, orby any other suitable mechanism. The upper portion of the friction-wheelq' is inclosed by a housing g3, formed on the casingM. The auxiliaryoil-reservoir N is vertically movable in the casing M and free to slidetherein, so that the friction-wheel q' is at all times held in contactwith the lubricated shaft by the weight of said reservoir and thevarious parts mounted on the same. ,S represents guide-tubes for thedepending portions of the feed-chain o, which pass through the `bottomof the auxiliary oil reservoir and extend downwardly nearly to the lowerextremity of said chain. When the shaft A is in motion, theactuating-pulley o of the feed-chain o is turned through the medium ofthe frictionwheel q and the worm-gearing r fr. As the chain rolls overthis pulley a portion of the oil picked up by the ascending side ofthechain vis elevated into the auxiliary reservoir N,.and upon reaching theupper side of the pulley o' the oil is thrown from the chain into saidreservoir by centrifugal force. From this reservoir the oil Hows throughthe discharge-opening m upon the wicks G. The motion of theactuating-pulley o as compared to that of the shaft A is a relativelyslow one; but the shaft A is driven at such a high speed that if thechain ran directly thereon the shaft-bearings would be flooded by theoil elevated by the chain, whereas by the employment of thespeed-reducing gearing between the shaft and the pulley o the latteroperates the chain just fast enough to deliver a drop or two of oil at atime, as above explained, to

the auxiliary reservoir, and this amount is suicient for 4 the desiredpurpose. By the employment of this auxiliary feed device the portions ofthe wicks in contact with the lubricated shaft are kept supplied withoil, even if the capillary action of the wicks should become impaired bythe thickening of the oil or the clogging of the wicks.

When it is desired to cleanse the wicks or renew the same, the coverj isremoved and the wicks are withdrawn from the openings of thebearing-sleeve B by means of the rings t, and after cleaning the wicksthey can be conveniently replaced or new ones can be substitutedtherefor when they become unserviceable. y

t is a horizontal pin or screw secured to the front wall of thevertically-movable oil-reservoir N and projecting into a vertical slott, formed in the adjacent wall of the casing M. This screw, whilepermitting the auxiliary reservoir to slide in the casing M, acts as astop, which prevents said reservoir and the parts carried by it fromfalling out of the casing M when the coverj is removed from the mainoil-reservoir for inserting or removing the wicks.

I claim as my inventionl. The combination with an oil-reservoir, of ahorizontal 'bearing-sleeve arranged in the upper portion of saidreservoir and provided in its side wall with an aperture whichintersects the bore of thesleeve, and a stationary wick supported onsaid sleeve and immersed in the oil in said reservoir and having itsupper portion arranged in said aperture so as to lie against the shaftjournaled in said bearing-sleeve, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination with a journal, and an oil-reservoir, of a horizontalbearing-sleeve arranged in the upper portion of said reservoir andprovided with an upper side over the journal and provided in its sidewalls withl openings which open into the bore of the sleeve, and a wicksupported upon the upper sidey of said sleeve and having dependingbranches which pass downwardly through said openings and are immersed inthe oil in said reservoir, substantially as set forth.

3; The combination with an oil-reservoir, of abearing-sleeve provided onopposite sides thereof with openings which intersect its bore,

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pass through said openings and are immersed in the oil of saidreservoir, and which are provided at their exposed, upper ends withrings or handles for withdrawing the wick from the openings of thesleeve, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination with an oil-reservoir, of a bearing-sleeve providedin its side wall with a wiek-opening which intersects its bore, and atransverse channel which leads from the inner lower edge of said openingto the bottom of the sleeve-bore, and a wick supported by said sleeveand arranged in said opening and immersed in the oil in said reservoir,substantially as set forth.

5. The combination with an oil-reservoir, of a bearing-sleeve providedin its side with an opening which intersects its bore, a shelf or ledgearranged' at the lower, inner wall of said opening, alongitudin alchannel arranged in the bottomof the sleeve-bore, and a transversechannel or channels leading from said ledge to said longitudinalchannel, and a wick arranged in said opening and immersed in the oil insaid reservoir, substantially as set forth.

6. A bearing-sleeve provided in its side with a wick-opening whichintersects its bore, and having a recess in its lower, inner wall whichforms a ledge or shelf adapted to receive any surplus oil flowing downthe wick, a longitudinal channel arranged in the bottom of thelsleeve-bore and a transverse channel or channels leading from saidledge to said longitudinal channel, substantially as set forth.

7. The combination with a shaft to be lubricated, of a mainoil-reservoir arranged below said shaft, an auxiliary reservoir arrangedabove said shaft and provided with a discharge-opening, a pulleyarranged in said auxiliary reservoir, a depending flexible feed memberrunning loosely over said pulley and dipping into the oil in said mainreservoir, and means for turning said pulley, substantially as setforth.

8. The combination with a shaft to be lubricated, of a mainoil-reservoir arranged below said shaft, an auxiliary reservoir arrangedabove said shaft and provided with a discharge-opening, a pulleyarranged in said auxiliary reservoir, a depending flexible feed memberrunning loosely over said pulley and dipping into the oil in said mainreservoir, and intermediate gearing whereby said pulley is rotated fromsaid shaft, substantially as set forth.

9. The combination with a shaft to be lubricated, of a mainoil-reservoir arranged below said shaft, an auxiliary reservoir arrangedabove said shaft and provided with a discharge-opening, a pulleyarranged in said auxiliary reservoir, a depending flexible feed memberrunningloosely over said pulley and dipping into the oil in said mainreservoir, a worm-wheel mounted on the shaft of said pulley, and anactuating-shaft having a frictionwheel which runs in contact with thelubricated shaft and a worm which meshes with said worm-wheel,substantially as set forth.

10. The combination with a shaft to be lubricated and a main reservoirarranged below the same, of a bottomless casing arranged above saidshaft, a vertically-movable auxiliary oil-reservoir capable of slidingfreely in said casing and provided in its bottom with adischargebpening, a pulley mounted on a horizontal shaft journaled insaid auxiliary reservoir, an endless flexible feed member dependingfroln said pulley and dipping into said main reservoir, and anactuating-shaft j ourn aled in saidauxiliary reservoir and having afriction-wheel which runs in Contact with the shaft to be lubricated,and a worm which meshes with a worin-wheel mounted on the shaft of saidpulley, substantially as set forth.

1l. The combination with a shaft to be lubricated, of 'a mainoil-reservoir arranged underneath the shaft, an auxiliary oil-reservoirarranged above the shaft and provided in its bottom with adischarge-opening, a wick depending from the shaft into said lowerreservoir and exposed at the upper side of the shaft, a pulley journaledin the auxiliary reservoir, an endless flexible feed member suspendedfrom said pulley and dipping into the oil in the lower reservoir, andintermediate gearing whereby said pulleyis turned from the lubricatedshaft, substantially as set forth.

l2. The combination with a shaft, of a main oil-reservoir arranged belowthe shaft, an auxiliary reservoir arranged above the main reservoir andprovided with a discharge-opening, a pulley arranged in said auxiliaryreservoir, a flexible feed member running over said pulley and dippinginto the oil in said main reservoir, means for driving said pulley, anda wick located between said discharge-opening and the shaft for catchingany grit or sediment in the oil, substantially as set forth.

Witness my hand this 23d day of Decembei-,1899.

WILLARD F. RICHARDS.4 Vitnesses:

JNO. J. BONNER, THEO. L. Porr.

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